He began to write in the 1920s. His first short story, "The Salvation of Pisco Gabar" was published in The Atlantic Monthly in 1936. His first novel The Terror of Villadonga was published that same year. His first short story collection, The Salvation of Pisco Gabar and Other Stories, came out in 1938. In all, he wrote twenty-eight novels (including four for young adults and a novella), seven short story collections and an autobiography, Against the Wind, published in 1958.

Many of his stories have scenes set in caves, and there is a science-fiction or supernatural element in some, although this is handled with restraint. The typical Household hero was a strong, capable Englishman with a high sense of honour which bound him to a certain course of action. He described himself as a writer, as "sort of a bastard by Stevenson out of Conrad ... Style is enormously important to me and I do try to develop my hero as a human being in trouble."[2]

Indiana University holds a collection of Household's manuscripts and correspondence.[3]